Fluid motor



Feb. 23 1926.

w. H, LGGETT FLUID MOTOR Filed May 9, 1925 Patented Feb. 23, 1925.

UNITED; ST-Aras Wl-LMAM IBRSQN LEGGETT, 0F ZION, ILINQES..

FLUID Moron- Appucauor fue@ May s, 1925.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VILLIAM Harrison Lneen'r'r, a subject of the King of Great Britaiin'and a resident; ofv the town of Zion. in the county of Lake, iny the Sta-te of Illinois, United States of America, h ave inven-ted certain new and useful 'Improvements in Fluid Motors, of which the follovving is the specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fluid motors, andthe object of the invention is to devise a motor ci? Water Wheel or turbine type, in which the efficiency Will `be increased, the resulting speed by lwhich the rotor is driven by a given' fluid 'pressure be ing increasedl over that produced bysimilar devices hitherto employed, and it consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter more particularly described.

Fig. l is a sectional view through my fluid inotor.

Fig. 2 is a plan view partially in full and partially in section, taken on line 2 2, Fig, 1.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure. y

l indicates a inain vertical shaft which is held at its upper end in a bearing ineinber 2 located in the supporting traine 3, and at its lower end in :the step' bearing 4l forming part of a base `fiv'aine 5. Around the step bearing 4 is formed a circular table G having annular ball races 7 located ,therein provided with ball bearings 8. l

9 is a cylindrical casing through which the upper end ol' the shaft l extends in proximity to ythe bearing 2. 1 0 is a fluid or `Water supply pipe by which the Water s lied into thecylindricalcasing 9 so as to pass downward through the open lower "end thereof and forni a pressure head.

1l is a circular disehargeineniber coinprising an upper end Wall 12 formed integral Vwith the annular lower edge of the casing 9 and a lower Wall 13 spaced apart from the Wall 12. i Interposed betvveenithe walls l2 and- 1 3 are a ser-ies of curved Walls la and 15, -oriningoutwardly curved dis-l charge peripheral iiozzles 16. It will be understood that the `discharge Inemberjis stationary so that as the Avvater :is `fed from the pipe -10 into the--cylindrioal easing r9, it passes downward into the stationary charge niernleer 1:1 .and isejeeted outward Serial No. 29,084z

llllfeugh the nozzles 16 under pressure Qi the head' of Water Within the `Cylrrlrca.l casing 9. i

1'7'is a revolving member, the uppery portion 1S o f which is cylindrical and 'provided intermediate-ly ofl the height of the cyliru drlal P Ortlell With e @Qral internal devulmfdly tapering ,flange 1.9 termina a central Opening 210 @enteren Wtlrtliisliart l,

"Between the 'upper part-ier of the conical im@ 19 and tllerrer lendof the, cylindrical portion 18' are arranged round its, internal peripherya Seriesk of Sraed apart radial blades 21, arranged to 'receive the irnpaci' of Water ejected vthrou h the nozzleX lr6 hereinbefore described, and by which the l cylindrical portion 18ct the. revolving Inen1- b'er 17 is revolve 'l V22 1s a cover for 4the upper end of the portion 18, such cover being provided with f t a `Central oriiice 28, thrdugh'vvhich the cylindrical casing 9 extends. l d

The lower end of the portion 18 is pro vided with an annular-outwardly extending flange 24. I

25 and 26 are a pair lof Water Wheels provided With a hub 27 secured to the shaft-.1. either by means of pins 28 or lby any other suitahle'ineans desired. The ,lovver'endot the hub 27 isprovided vvith an annular liange 29 opposing the tabl-e 6A and provided with ball races 30 coacting With the halls 8 and races 7 hereinbefore described, lto revolubly inount the hub 27 and the Water` Wheels 2.5 and 26 carried thereby.

It will be noted that the lower Wall 3l forming the body of each Water Wheel 25 and 2o is formed centrally into a conical upwardly extending portion 32 adapted to deflect the Water as it passes downward in an outward radial direction.

Each Water wheel 25 and 26 is provided with a seriesof radial portions 33.4 At thc outer edge of each Water Wheel 25 and 26 is provided a series ofdischarge openings 32' radially, as indicated at 36X and then extends forward at an obtuse angle to the radii of the wheel, as indicated at 37, there-- by forming a discharge nozzle 38 at the outer end of the duct 35.

At right angles to the wall portion 3i" extends a wall portion 39 directly opposite to the nozzle 38 to receive the impact of water ejected therefrom.

Between the outer end of the portion 33 and the outer end `of the wall portion 39 is formed a discharge opening 40, and a discharge duct 41 leading therefrom` to the discharge opening 32.

The inner wall 42 of the duct 41 extends in a tangential direction to the circular line upon which the discharge openings of the nozzles 33 are located. The outer wall 43 is concaved inward as indicated, so as to receive a certain amount of the water pressure as it flows from the wall 39 after its impact thereagainst, such water flowing through the discharge duct 41 and being finally discharged through the opening 34 at the pe riphery of the wheel.

44 is a conical casing into which the outer peripheral portion of the wheel 25 extends, having a circular opening 45 at its lowerv end through which the conical upwardly extending portion of the water wheel 26 extends. The upper edge of the conical portion of the casing 44 is curved inward so as to form an Aannular channel 44X which is semi-circular in cross section and in which the outer peripheral portion of the upper water wheel 25 travels.

The upper portion of the casing 44 is provided with a central opening 4G through which the cylindrical portion 18 of the revolving member 17 extends.

From this description it will be seen that as the water passes through the inlet pipe 10 and through the cylindrical casing 9 to form a pressure head, and is'discharged through the nozzles 1G, the revolving member 17 is rotated by means of the impact of water against the blades 21, such water passing downward from the blades and being directed by the conical portion 19 against the radial blades 33 of the upper water wheel 25, which thereby directs the water outward through the ducts 35 so as to have impact against the wall portion 39.

1t will be seen that by the water being carried outward and operating adjacent to the outer periphery of the water wheel 25, greater torque is exerted upon the wheel. lVater, after operating against the wheel portion 39, passes rearward in relation to the direction of rotation of the wheel 25, and is discharged through the discharge openings 34 into the conical casing 44, against the blade 44X which then directs the water into the water wheel 26.

.although l here @ely Sheva iw@ weer wheels mounted upon the shaft 1, it will of course be understood that any number may be employed coupled in vertical series upon the shaft 1.

lnVhat I claim as my invention is:

1. A fluid motor comprising a stationary member having an annular series of tangentially discharging fluid outlets, means for feeding the fluid centrally into the member to pass outward through the outlets, a shaft mounted to extend centrally through the annular member, a rotor carried by the shaft, an inner annular series of fluid impact members carried by the rotor, a plurality of annular series of outer fluid impact members also carried by the rotor on different planes, the inner series of fluid impact members being adapted to receive the fluid directly from the discharge outlets of the stationary meinber, and means for directing the fluid from such inner series successively to each of the vplurality of outer series, and means for finally discharging the fluid from the last of the outer series.

2. 1n a. fluid motor, the combination with the main supporting frame, of a stationary member comprising a cylindrical body, a water inlet leading in to the body, an annular flange extending outward from the lower edge of the cylindrical member, a Circular wall located beneath and spaced apart from such flange and an annular series of forwardly curved vanes arranged between the flange and the wall and forming tangentially directing fluid discharges, a shaft mounted to extend centrally through the cylindrical member, a rotor mounted upon the shaft, an inner series of fluid impact members carried by the rotor against which the fluid discharge from the stationary niember has direct impact and an outer series of fluid impact members arranged on a different plane to the aforesaid members and from which the fluid is discharged, and means for directing fluid from the inner series in a tangential direction against the outer series.

3. ln a fluid'motor, the combination with the main frame, of a stationary inlet member mounted upon the frame provided with an annular series of tangential fluid discharges, a main shaft mounted to extend centrally through the stationary member, a rotor mounted upon the shaft and comprising a cylindrical portion in the upper portion of which the stationary member is located, an annular series of fluid impact receiving members formed by vanos carried by the cylindrical portion of the rotor and arranged round the stationary member to receive the fluid discharge therefrom, an outer series of fluid impact members carried by the lower portion ofthe rotor cylinder, a conical flange mounted intermediately of the height of the rotor cylin tier fer.. .si-reales the weer discharge from the inner impact members towards the centre of the rotor, and means for taugen tially directing the water as it passes centrally from the conical flange against the outer seiies of impact members.

ll. In a fluid motor, the combination with the main frame, of a shaft journalled in the main frame, a stationary fluid inlet member mounted concentrically with the shaft and provided with an annular series of tangentially directing fluid discharges, means for feeding fluid into the centre of the member, a rotor comprising a cylindrical body in the upper portion of which the inlet member is located, an annular series of fluid impact receiving members formed by vertically set varies extending from the inner periphery of the cylindrical body opposite to the discharges of the stationary member, a conical flange depending downward intermediately of the height of the cylindrical body toform a central opening, a fluid receiving wheel carried by the lower end of the body and extending outward therefrom and provided with an annular series of peripheral discharges, a fluid impact member located in proximity to each water wheel discharge at a greater radial distance from the centre of the shaft than the inner series of impactV members, a conical portion located centrally of the water wheel and extending upward through the opening of the aforesaid conical wall thereof and having one vertical faceY flange, and ducts formed on such conical portion adapted to direct the fluid received from the flange in a tangential direction against the outer fluid impact members.

5. In a device of the class described, a fluid receiving wheel comprising an annular upper wall, a circular lower wall spaced apart and beneath the annular wall, vanes carried by the lower wall and extending in a substantially radial direction from the centre of the wheel to betweenthe upper and lower concaved and its opposite vertical face straight to form a constricted discharge opening at the outer end of the vane directed tangentially, a wall extending from the outer end of each vane opposing the aforesaid tangential outlet and adapted to receive the fluid impact from suoli outlet, and a wall curving rearwardly and in a tangential direction from the aforesaid impact wheel to the periphery of the wheel to form a rearwardly directed fluid discharge.

6. A fluid motor comprising a stationary member having an'annular series of tangentially discharging fluid outlets, means for feeding the fluid centrally into the member from the discharge outlets of the stationary member, a conical fluid directing member located between each pair of outer series of fluid impact receiving members, the upper portion of the fluid directing member being curved inward over the uppermost outer series of fluid impact members to form a channel in which such members revolve, the

lower portionof the conical fluid directing.

member having a central orifice located interniediately between the next adjacent outer series of fluid impact members andthe centre of the shaft upon which such impact members are carried.

7. In a device of the class described, a rotary member comprising a cylindrical upper portion having' a closed upper end and a lower open end, a series of radial vanes extending inward from the internal periphery, a conicalV depending flange located beneath such vanes on the inner periphery of the aforesaid cylindrical portion, an outwardly extending annular Vflange extending from the lower end of the cylindrical portion, a horizontal circular wall located beneath and spaced apart from such flange, and ducts located between the flange and the wall for directing fluid tangentially as it passes outward from thecentre of the rotor.

8. In a device'of the class described, a rotary member comprising a cylindrical upper portion having a closed upper end and a lower open end., a series of radial vanes extending inward from the internal periphery, a conical depending flange located beneath such vanes on the inner periphery of the aforesaid cylindrical portion, an outwardly extending annular flange extending from the lower end of the cylindrical portion, a horizontal circular wall located fbeneath and spaced apart from such flange and having a central portion extending upward in conical form through the opening formed by the conical flange, ducts extending from the top of such conical portion to between the circular wall and the annular flange to formperipheral tangentially directed outlets.

WILLIAM HARRISON LEGGIEIT'Iv 

